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Whew! That felt good! This is the first new affirmation I’ve recorded in more than three years. I’ve mentioned a couple of places that I’m in the process of revitalizing and expanding The Affirmation Spot platform. You’re going to be seeing new content in new venues. One of my areas of focus will be video affirmations.

The video that accompanies the affirmation has a powerful message in its own right. I’d love to hear your comments below.

I hope you will find this affirmation recording useful and empowering when you’re facing the voices and forces of negativity in your life. The affirmation is set to a spacey track that gains power as it progresses. That’s offset by relaxing theta waves. The affirmation is read in the first and second-person for maximum effect.

The Affirmation reads:

I am immune to the negative voices and forces in my environment. I stay focused on my dreams.

You are immune to the negative forces in your environment. You stay focused on your dreams.

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and co-founder of 6 Sense Media. He’s been writing, recording, and using affirmations for 30 years. He’s also the author of Anunnaki Awakening. He advocates for the potential of the human race. He’s life-long history buff and holds a B.S. in History Education.

Quitting is the answer to your dilemma. You know you want to give up. So, do it. You have a dream, but it is just pie-in-the-sky nonsense. What are you thinking? Are you crazy?

Do you really believe you could be the next great children’s author. Are you really visualizing yourself sitting on Oprah’s couch discussing your latest best seller? YOU??? Come on! Get real. You’ve sent 20 manuscripts out and how many rejection letters? That’s right. 20.

And you, thinking you are the next great country music star. You’ve made five demo records and not one call back. You’ve been at this for three years now. When are you going to face reality?

Oh, and Mr. basketball, you have dreams of a major college scholarship and then the NBA? Yeah right! You play three minutes a game on your high school team. The coach barely knows your name. And you think you’re the next Michael Jordan? Face it, my friend, basketball is a dead end for you.

Do you ever have thoughts like these? Do you ever hear those around you say things like this because they “care about you”? There’s always someone around to shoot down your dreams, if you are not already doing it. In some cases, it’s even an expert – an editor, a coach, or record producer. I mean they know what they are talking about, right?

The next time you have these kinds of thoughts I want you remember the following.

His sophomore year in high school, Michael Jordan didn’t even know he was the next Michael Jordan.

He was cut from his high school basketball team. I don’t know if that high school basketball team was unbelievably talented or the coach just wasn’t a very good judge of ability. Can you imagine arguably the greatest basketball player ever cut from his basketball team? The coach was presumedly an expert.

Michael could have taken the expert’s word and given up. He could have taken up the vilolin or given up on school activities all together. Instead, he worked harder; became more determined. Three years later he was starting for one of the top college programs in the country and on his way to a Hall of Fame NBA career and six NBA championships.

What if Michael Jordan had accepted the judgment of an expert and quit? The man revitalized a sport, gave a city with a reputation for losing the opportunity to be champions, inspired millions of young athletes, and gave every fan a highlight film that will run in their minds forever.

Back in the 1920s there was an unknown cartoonist from the midwest shopping his idea for an animated cartoon featuring a mouse. Walt Disney made two cartoons featuring Mickey Mouse that were rejected by distributors. Then timing and adaptability intervened.

Disney latched on to the new sound technology in Hollywood and created a third Mickey Mouse film with sound called Steamboat Willie which debuted in New York on November 18, 1928.

The mouse and Walt went on to do quite well for themselves. A major media empire and the world’s number one tourist destination bear the name Disney because he believed in his idea and he did not stop at “no”.

Had Disney quit generations would have been deprived of the eternal childhood represented by Disney message.

A retired motel and restaurant owner in his 70s spent two years driving the country pitching his secret recipe for fried chicken to restaurant owners. The story goes that Harland Sanders heard no over 1000 times before someone finally said, “yes”.

Today Kentucky Fried Chicken is served in more than 80 countries around the world. Everyone knows about “The Colonel’s secret recipe.”

What is the common element here? Belief? Yes. Commitment. Sure. The real common element here is perserverence converted into success. These people pushed through their own doubts and the opinions of others to achieve their goals.

They also didn’t listen to the experts who said it couldn’t be done. The experts thought the train, the automobile, the airplane, radio, television, and the Internet would never succeed. Experts are always learned people about “what is”. They are entrenched in “what is”. Experts are weak at seeing what “can be.”

That takes a visionary. Find a visionary who believes in you and what you are trying to accomplish. That restaurant owner who finally said yes to Colonel Sanders was a visionary.

The world would have been worse off if any of these men had given up. What will the world be missing out on if you quit on your dream?

So how about it? Are you up for that 21st manuscript submission? Are you ready to make another demo and make this cut the one that gets noticed? Are you ready to give a little extra at practice today and let the coach really see what you can do?

If you are inspired to keep going, continue visualizing Oprah. If you are motivated to take Nashville by storm, keep seeing yourself accepting your award as newcomer of the year in country music. If you are ready to take the court with a new purpose and determination, then keep dreaming of the NBA.

Others are going to call you crazy. “They” called Jordan, Disney, and Sanders crazy too. “They” called the Wright Brothers and Edison and Leonardo DaVinci crazy.

You might have another bout of you calling yourself crazy. That’s normal. Just don’t give up on your talent, don’t give up on your passion, don’t give up on the promise of your dreams.

Start right now by restating your dream to the universe and your commitment to achieving it. I’d be honored if you began by leaving a comment on this blog.

Quitting is an answer. It is just not the right answer when it comes to your dreams.

Be peaceful Be prosperous

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.

He is the author of the Anunnaki Awakening series (2015). Book 1 – Revelation – is now available in paperback and on Kindle. This trilogy takes Ancient Aliens out of the past and into the present. An interstellar, interdimensional journey ensues with humanity’s future hanging in the balance.

The opening window of victory often comes disguised as the closing door of defeat.

During last week’s BCS National Championship game between Alabama and Texas, a dream was broken in a very public way. We all experience broken dreams in our lives. Sometimes they happen in lonely, desperate moments and sometimes they happen on a very public stage.

For Texas senior quarterback Colt McCoy, his dream was broken on a national stage. By all accounts, McCoy passed on the guaranteed millions of last year’s NFL draft because of his desire to lead his Texas Longhorns to a national championship.

Through the course of a long season, McCoy had positioned his team on the doorstep of his dream – a berth in the national championship game. Then the dream shattered. On the fifth play from scrimmage, McCoy took a hit from Alabama’s Marcel Dareus. The All-American quarterback and two-time Heisman Trophy finalist was down for the count.

The media later reported about his failed attempts to revitalize the dream by trying to prove to team doctors he could play with his numb arm. However, a locker room attempt to play catch with his father only demonstrated his injury left him unable to control his throws.

Most of the focus went to the injury’s impact on the outcome of the big game, but a bigger question for all of us is how do we cope with the big dream going wrong?

Despite all of our confidence, determination, and positive thoughts, life does not always go our way. How do we deal when that happens? Do we give up and quit? Do we pick ourselves up and go for it again?

Here is one way to handle these situations. It should be noted that depending on the situation and the person, these phases may last varying lengths of time.

Feel your feelings – absolutely avoid trying to hide, mask, or pretend that you’re not down about the situation. You’re a human being and human beings feel hurt when they lose something important. It’s normal and natural so let yourself feel it.

Accept – accept what is. As important as feeling your feelings, is accepting the reality of the loss or defeat. Acceptance forms the foundation that allows you to transform the situation into something positive.

Regroup and evaluate – after you’ve felt your feeling and accepted the situation, you are ready to think about how to move forward. Is the goal or dream something that is repeatable? Can you make another attempt? If so, is it worth the effort for you to do so? Are there other dreams that this situation makes possible because you have more time or energy to put into them? Especially, a big setback is the perfect opportunity to take stock of where you are and make some decisions about where you want to go.

First steps forward – to this point in the process, you’ve been trying to hold your ground in the face of the situation. Now it’s time to begin moving forward again and pushing towards your new dreams and priorities. Now you begin to have perspective and you see how what seemed like a setback was really a stepping stone to things you never thought of or anticipated.

Belief – as you begin to move forward, your confidence rebuilds and you begin to believe again. You become passionate about your new possibilities and eager to pursue them.

New achievement – the final stage is when your hard work, determination, and belief place you in position for a new achievement. You’ve grown from your past defeats and you’re now more ready than ever to shine and to show what you’ve got. Think about it. How many sports teams jump from obscurity to champion in one year? Not very many. Most teams will make the playoffs once or twice with varying success. They take what they learn from their losses and begin again towards the dream. Then one year a champion is suddenly born.

What’s next for Colt McCoy? Well, probably the NFL millions he passed on last season. The dream of a college national championship is one he’ll have to give up in pursuit of new dreams.

Setback is part of the human condition. The key is that whether your setback is private or very public like Colt McCoy’s you can come back. You can go even further the next time.

After all, roadblocks are only shortcuts to something better than you had planned!

Stay inspired!

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.

He is the author of the Anunnaki Awakening series (2015). Book 1 – Revelation – is now available in paperback and on Kindle. Can one woman really change the world? Can she expose a lie told for millennia? Can she make the future possible for two worlds?

Fill in the blank with your vacation destination and keep this affirmation with you everywhere you go the next few weeks. If you’ve already planned your trip, the affirmation will help you remember it is getting closer. If you have not planned your trip, the affirmation keeps that dream in front of you and helps you attract the opportunity into your life.

The Saturday Positive Thinking Survey gives readers of The Affirmation Spot an opportunity to express their views on a survey question related to positive thinking or positive change.

This week’s question

If money and time were not an issue, where in the world would you go on vacation right now? Have you been there before? Why is this your dream vacation?

Last March my wife and I were fortunate enough to take our first trip to Hawaii. We expected to enjoy ourselves, but we were unprepared for the unbelievable beauty of the place and the feelings it evoked in both of us.

So, this April we are making a return trip. Last year we sailed aboard NCL’s Pride of Hawaii. That ship was reassigned to the Mediterranean Sea.

This year we will be aboard Pride of America. Cruising is a fantastic way to see Hawaii. You travel at night. When you awake in the morning you’ve arrived at your next destination.

It gives you a chance to get a taste of each of the islands.For months after our first trip, I would close my eyes and see the incredible blue water off Kona or have a brief memory of our two mile trek across the lava fields to see “the newest land on earth.” I think often about the miles and miles of gorgeous beaches on Maui and the unspoiled wonder of the Nipali Coast.

Perhaps the most amazing place was the Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park. In ancient times, it was known as the “Place of Refuge”. When someone was condemned to death their sentence was commuted if they could make it to this sacred place alive. Today this part of the Kona coast is definitely a refuge for the soul.

We are so looking forward to the return visit. After last year’s trip, we decided to make it a goal to move to Hawaii one day. This year’s trip will determine if we just had a crush or if it is true love. We’re pretty sure we already know!

This year I plan to blog from the ship during our trip. So I can share our Hawaii experience with readers of the blog.

This coming Monday we celebrate the birthday of a great man. Like most great people he is either loved (by the overwhelming majority of people) or hated (by a small minority). Great people always inspire us to have an opinion about them. In the humble opinion of this writer, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man.

Regardless of whether or not you agreed with his politics he was somone who had conviction. He stood against tremendous injustice. There was a great hypocrisy in our land in his day. A hypocrisy that had gone on too long. He stood up to be a leader and he paid the ultimate price for it.

Few people had a greater influence on modern America than this man. Today, through the magic of YouTube, I am able to share his most famous and, I believe, his crowning moment.

The day is August 28, 1963. 250,000 Americans gathered on the mall in Washington D.C. to listen to Dr. King's speech. Little did they know they were about to hear perhaps the greatest speech ever.

Four and a half decades later his words still inspire. His dream is still an aspiration. His vision is still the future we can all share as soon as we choose that course.

Runtime is 17:57

Your challenges may not be as big, but remember that anything is possible when you "have a dream".

The affirmations a person uses depend on many factors. What is the person trying to accomplish? Where is he or she now in relation to that goal or dream? What is their belief factor? Is he or she aspiring to something big or just looking for incremental improvement?

One of the biggest knocks critics have against affirmations is that they encourage unrealistic thinking.

It is ridiculous, they say, to encourage a sixth grader who can barely play “Hot Crossed Buns” on the saxophone to use an affirmation like, “I am a world-class saxophone player”. That’s just delusional, they argue, to have a child believing something so out of touch with reality.

I absolutely agree!

“What,” you say, “I thought you were in the business of promoting affirmations and encouraging others to follow their dreams?” I am. And, I still agree with those critics. Oh, I believe emphatically that affirmations are for everyone, but I do not believe every affirmation is for every person.

Yes. The critics are correct. This affirmation is completely unrealistic for any sixth grader who believes it is unrealistic.

They are also correct that a smart sixth grader is probably going to doubt the affirmation at some point. Sooner or later the sixth grader using this affirmation may have the thought, “I can’t even play ‘Hot Crossed Buns’. I’m not a world class saxophone player.”

These two pieces of information do not match up. The sixth grader, like most human beings, will search for a way to make the ideas congruent. When this happens it is decision time for the sixth grader and his or her dream of being a world-class saxophonist.

Whether they know it or not the critics are citing and the sixth grader is experiencing a well-known psychological phenomenon called cognitive dissonance.

This theory states that when we hold two incongruent pieces of knowledge in our minds there is a very strong psychological impulse to bring the two conflicting thoughts into agreement.

The idea being that our sixth grader cannot hold the thought, “I can’t even play ‘Hot Crossed Buns’,” in his or her mind while at the same time holding the idea, “I am a world class saxophone player.”

The classic example is the mother on the news who cannot reconcile the baby she brought into the world with the possibility that he may have committed a crime. So, she believes in his innocence even against overwhelming evidence.

Now, here is where the critics’ logic fails. They assume, I suppose, that the only option for this newly self-aware sixth grader is to stop using this unrealistic affirmation and stop pursuing such lofty and unrealistic dreams. Basically, “Give it up, kid, there’s no chance.”

The cognitive dissonance theorists tell us that there are actually three options (besides “getting real”) open to resolve this dilemma.

Change beliefs – the sixth grader can change one or both beliefs to be more in line. “I know I’m not a world-class saxophonist right now, but I can be someday.” He or she admits the first fact and changes the condition for the second to bring them into congruence.

Adding beliefs – the sixth grader can think, “It’s true I cannot play “Hot Crossed Buns”. It’s true that I’m not a world-class sax player right now.” “It’s also true that Charlie Parker was not a world-class saxophone player in the sixth grade and look what he accomplished.”

Alter the importance of the beliefs – the sixth grader can think, “It doesn’t matter that I can’t play “Hot Crossed Buns” right now. I will be able to some day. I still have it in me to be a world-class saxophone player.” He or she chooses to diminish the importance of the current state and focus, instead, on the future possibility.

Part of the confusion, candidly, comes from affirmation gurus who promote the idea that your affirmations must be adhered to with unshakable belief to make a difference. Doubting – the cardinal sin of affirmationdom – must never be allowed to rise or else the magic potion will be spoiled.

People are people. Some days we believe in our dreams fervently and other days we completely lose sight of them. That’s not being negative that’s just being human. The path is not lost by one moment of doubt.

This affirmation may or may not be appropriate for the sixth grader in question. It depends on how he or she resolves the cognitive dissonance associated with it.

If he or she cannot come to terms with the disparity, then an affirmation like “I am becoming a world class saxophone player” or “I am a better saxophone player every day” may be more acceptable and reduce the cognitive dissonance.

Conversely, the previous affirmation is ideal for a college student majoring in music performance on the saxophone. That person has already put in many years and is now an expert on the instrument. He or she may be planning a career playing the saxophone. That college student certainly can realistically aspire to becoming a world-class sax player.

Here is what I have learned from more than 17 years experience working with affirmations. There really are two classes of affirmations – aspirational and incremental.

Aspirational affirmations are your “big thinking” affirmations. They are the ones that remind you that something far greater than right now lies within you. That knowing is not for anyone to label as delusional or unrealistic. It depends on you and your belief.

Incremental affirmations are affirmations that are more finely tuned. They focus on specifics and immediate steps. They are the trees to the aspirational affirmations’ forest.

In my view, they are both part of a healthy affirmation diet. Just like protein and calcium serve two different but beneficial roles in the body. Both kinds of affirmations add value to your over all growth. One is today’s weather forecast and the other is the long range forecast.

Let me illustrate the difference with a couple examples.

A high school quarterback with big dreams might use both of the following affirmations:

Aspirational: “I am the next John Elway.”
Incremental: “My completion percentage is improving each and every game.”

A person trying to climb out of depression might use both of the following affirmations:

Aspirational: “I am completely happy with all aspects of my life.”Incremental: “Today I am putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward.”

A person focusing on creating a better financial future might use both of the following affirmations:

Aspirational: “My million dollar idea is on its way to me right now.”
Incremental: “Today I am paying my bills on time.”

It’s not about being unrealistic. It’s about using the very real power of your thoughts to support your immediate goals and your long term dreams.

So, if you are a sixth grade saxophone player with a passion to be the world’s greatest saxophonist, I say go for it! One thing is for sure. None of your critics will be there to beat you out!

Be peaceful Be prosperous!

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.He’s spent the past 21 years in sales and sales training for major companies.

Ray’s 2015 speculative fiction novel, Anunnaki Awakening: Revelation, is turning heads. Where did humanity really come from and where is it going? This is Book 1 of a trilogy. The Awakening has begun!

Learn more about the trilogy and order your signed copy today at AATrilogy.com.

Is there a Santa Claus? This headline appeared in the September 21, 1897 editorial page of the New York Sun. The question was posed by eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon. Her letter to the editor reads as follows:

“Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?”

~ Virgina O’Hanlon
115 West Ninety-Fifth Street

New York Sun editor Francis Pharcellus Church responded to Virginia’s letter with this now famous editorial.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowlege.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas how dreary would be the world if there was no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if their were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

110 years later we live in a world infinitely more skeptical than the one Church decried. Many view Santa as just another marketing device to feed our consumerist frenzy. He is real only in as far as he serves the bottom line and provides a small slice of innocence to an ever shrinking childhood.

In our world, one where knowledge is controlled by economists and scientists; if you cannot weigh something, measure it, or define it in objective terms, it’s not real. Santa doesn’t fit into this worldview. He cannot be observed or tested in a lab. Therefore, the reasoning goes, he is not real.

Santa represents one thing – The Possible. He cannot be conclusively proved. Neither can your dreams, determination, hope, compassion, or most of the other things that make life worth living. You cannot measure a dream or weigh determination or define hope. These concepts are not susceptible to the scientific method or measurable on a profit and loss statement. And, yet, can you deny their reality?

They, like Santa, are only observable indirectly by their effects on the world. What would the world be without dreams, determination, hope, or compassion? It would be devoid of The Possible the same as if there was no Santa. Even as adults, we must continue to believe in The Possible or risk being stuck in what is; unable to move forward.

So, Virginia, is there a Santa? Yes, there is, but those looking for Santa in chimneys will never find him. He lives only in the hearts of determined, hopeful, compassionate dreamers willing to suspend disbelief long enough see what is possible.